


Inestimable

by justaddfiction



Category: RWBY
Genre: F/F, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-27
Updated: 2018-06-27
Packaged: 2019-05-29 07:05:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,840
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15067784
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/justaddfiction/pseuds/justaddfiction
Summary: “They seem like such wonderful girls,” she’d said, as Sun’s stories wound down. “But there’s something I’ve been wondering, if you don’t mind me asking.”“Go ahead, Mrs. B,” said Sun, picking up a coconut drink with his tail to sip on.Kali paused, trying to find the most tactful way to ask. “I’m glad you came with her, but I find it odd that the one who did wasn't on her team…”Sun froze for a second. “You’re asking why none of her teammates came along.”





	Inestimable

**Author's Note:**

> inspired by this post by markofthekindred (formerly rwby2): http://markofthekindred.tumblr.com/post/152258587579/how-do-you-think-blakes-parents-would-react-to

As Kali brushed her teeth and padded in slipper-clad feet to the master bedroom she shared with her husband, she couldn’t shake the thought of what Sun had told her.

 

The question had been bound to come up.

 

Kuo Kuana was absolutely stunning at twilight, with fireflies flickering between the gently swaying palm trees. It was one of her favorite things about home, sitting in a wicker chair on the deck and enjoying the balmy evenings with a cold drink. It was even better with good company, and Blake’s friend Sun was such a sweet, eager young man. He was much more talkative than Blake (but then again, that was like being warmer than Atlas). He had such an energetic way of telling stories, with true admiration for the cast of characters, his friends and allies. He seemed to have endless stories of Team RWBY, Blake’s team at Beacon.

 

“They seem like such wonderful girls,” she’d said, as Sun’s stories wound down. “But there’s something I’ve been wondering, if you don’t mind me asking.”

 

“Go ahead, Mrs. B,” said Sun, picking up a coconut drink with his tail to sip on.

 

Kali paused, trying to find the most tactful way to ask. “I’m glad you came with her, but I find it odd that the one who did wasn't on her team…”

 

Sun froze for a second. “You’re asking why none of her teammates came along.” Kali nodded. He sighed and set down his coconut, looking tense. 

 

She could see where this was going. It had to do with the Fall of Beacon. Any time the subject had come up, Sun had skirted around it, eagerly finding a new story to tell. She couldn’t blame him. All accounts of the Fall that had managed to reach the island sounded simply nightmarish. But if the reason they weren’t here with Blake had to do with the Fall, did that mean…

 

“Are they all right?” She asked, with a touch more urgency than before.

 

“Oh yeah, I'm sure they’re fine!” He waved his hands reassuringly, speed-talking with nervous energy. “Totally great, they’re tough…” He made a face and then dropped his hands. “Actually, Mrs. B - and I’m not super proud of this, to be honest - I don’t know. When I left, Ruby was in a coma, Weiss had been forcibly taken back to Atlas, and Yang…” his pained expression alarmed Kali.

 

“Yang was Blake’s partner, right? Is she all right? What happened to her?” She feared the worst, but something didn’t add up. He hadn’t spoken about Yang the way one would have about a fallen friend. So what had happened?

 

“She’s - she’s alive, and everything, she’s home with her dad, and with Ruby. But she was injured, that night.” He paused.

 

“Injured?” she prompted, a mix of relief and nervousness settling in the pit of her stomach.

 

“She lost an arm,” Sun admitted. Kali gasped, putting a hand to her mouth. The poor girl. Even with her limited knowledge about aura, Kali knew there was no way to regrow a limb. There were prosthetics, of course, but they were prohibitively expensive and only made by a handful of engineers around the world. She and Ghira had tried to find such engineers they could to invite to Menagerie, once upon a time. But faunus biomechanical engineers were few and far between. 

 

Sun seemed to have more to say, and looked nervous. He made a face again, looking at her as if deciding whether or not to tell her the truth. “You’ll probably want to know, except, I dunno if Blake wants to tell you herself - has she told you anything about that night?”

 

There had been one conversation. “She told me she was injured. I saw the scar and asked about it.”

 

“Did she tell you who did it?”

 

Kali had not expected that question. “No, what do you mean?”

 

Sun looked conflicted, then said, “Don’t tell her I told you this, but it was Adam.” 

 

Kali couldn’t believe her ears, but all four of them had heard the same thing. She knew he’d been more extreme than she was comfortable with, but to think he’d hurt Blake so grievously… She saw red. “I’ll skewer that boy if he ever dares to go near my daughter again. I can’t believe it. They used to- and she never said anything- oh, Blake, what did he do to you?”

 

“Hey, pipe down, Ms. Kali,” he said, looking around nervously. “I know, it’s awful, but if Blake heard me telling you this-”

 

“Then  _ should  _ you be telling me this?” She asked, with one eyebrow quirked. As charming as Sun was, he didn’t seem to have the best handle on personal boundaries. It already seemed to drive Blake up the wall, which was probably a major reason why she had given him such a lukewarm introduction that first day.

 

He took a moment to consider the question. He rubbed his neck sheepishly. “Probably not that part. But you’ll want to know this next thing, and she’s not going to tell you, so I guess it’s up to me.” He took a deep breath.

 

“Yang was there. She saw it happen, so she, uh.” Kali put a hand to her mouth again as she guessed what he was trying to say. “She attacked him. And he,” Sun made a chopping motion against his right arm, with a little  _ whoosh _ sound effect. (Somehow, it didn’t sound disrespectful, just so very  _ Sun _ .)

 

Tears of sadness and inestimable gratitude for a young woman she’d never met began to well at the corners of Kali’s eyes. “Oh my-” She struggled for words. Sun’s stories of Yang, the punny, hot-tempered, goofy brawler, were thrown into a completely different light now. Kali would never be able to thank her enough.

 

It was this news that she carried to bed with her, as she curled up with Ghira like she had done every night for close to two decades now. He seemed to already know something was wrong. “Kali? What is it?”

 

She sighed. “Sun told me something this evening, and I think you should know…”

 

***

 

The moon looking down on Haven Academy was completely shattered. She hadn’t noticed while she’d been flying with the Mistral Police, but as the hubbub at the school died down and the floodlights were taken down and away, she could see the moon shining brilliantly down on the courtyard.

 

Trickling out of the main building were a train of kids Kali didn’t recognize, except for Blake. Walking on either side of her were three girls: one short, dressed all in red and black, who seemed to bounce with every step; one who walked as elegantly as she was dressed, with a blood-stained hole in her blue and white dress; and one, the tallest of the four, dressed all in metal-trimmed brown leather, whose brilliant blonde hair matched her bright yellow metal arm.

 

She grabbed Ghira’s arm and pulled him towards the four girls. He made a sound of protest as he was dragged away from what was no doubt an important conversation, but quieted when he saw their destination. He must have come to the same conclusion she had.

 

The first thing she did was hug Blake. “Oh, I’m so proud of you, sweetheart,” she said.

 

“ _ Mom _ ,” said Blake reproachfully.

 

The little red-cloaked girl practically squeaked, “‘Mom?’ You’re Blake’s mom? It’s so nice to meet you! I love your piercings!”

 

Kali chuckled as she pulled away from the hug. “Oh, thank you, dear. You three must be Blake’s teammates! I’ve heard all about you. You must be Ruby,” she said, nodding toward the girl who had just spoken, “Weiss,” she nodded toward the girl with the Schnee emblem and thankfully no wound under the hole in her dress, “and Yang.” Upon addressing the last girl, she hugged Yang fiercely.

 

“Uh-” said Yang, audibly taken aback by this turn of events. She was stiff under the hug, but Kali persisted.

 

“I heard what you did for Blake. We can never thank you enough. Our door is always open to you. If there’s anything we can do to help pay for the prosthetic or other medical bills-”

 

“Oh. That’s, uh, that's really kind of you, but it’s okay. General Ironwood took care of it.” She sounded embarrassed; but then again, Kali thought, what else are your friends’ moms for?

 

“Well, I’m glad the Atlas military did  _ something  _ right,” said Kali, stepping back to get a good look at Yang. She pointedly didn’t notice the way Yang grabbed her shaking left arm - nope, nothing to see there, and especially nothing to make her feel uncomfortable about. What she did notice was a strong, tough girl with the prettiest lilac eyes. “I really mean it. You’re our hero.”

 

Yang seized on a topic she felt more comfortable with. “Well, you’re ours too. We couldn’t have done it without you guys bringing in the Mistral Police, not to mention all of freakin’ Menagerie. Thank you so much, you really saved the day.”

 

Ghira piped up from behind her. “You should be thanking Blake. She was the one who found out about the attack and inspired our people to fight.” Both Blake and Yang glanced at each other, then looked away hurriedly, blushes creeping onto their faces as Yang murmured a quiet but sincere thanks.  _ So that’s how it is, _ thought Kali.  _ Looks like Blake really has a thing for blondes. Well, I couldn’t ask for better than someone who did  _ that  _ for her. And adopted or biological, grandchildren are grandchildren. _

 

“I’m Kali, and this is my husband Ghira. Any of you girls are free to call me ‘Aunt Kali’ if you’d like. Or ‘Mom,’ I don't mind.”

 

“ _ Mooooom, _ ” whined Blake.

 

“Yes, just like that,” she replied with a wink.

 

A grizzled, grey-haired man around her own age walked up to the team, finishing a swig from a hip flask. “All right kids,” he said in a gravelly voice, “it’s been a long night and it’ll be a long day tomorrow. Let's head back to the house and get some shuteye.”

 

Kali had briefly met Qrow a short while earlier while they were both talking to the Mistral Police. “Listen to Mr. Branwen, girls. It’s late and we should  _ all _ be going to bed.” She took Ghira’s hand again and watched Blake’s teammates march after the grizzled man, exhausted relief shining on all their faces. 

 

Blake turned sadly the other way, but before she could speak, Kali gestured toward them. “Where are you going? Mr. Branwen told me you have a room with your team. Go catch up with them.” Blake brightened a bit and smiled softly, before hugging both parents and running to catch up with her friends.

 

Watching the other girls greet her, including a loud cheer from Ruby, a pat on the shoulder from Weiss, and a playful shove from Yang, Kali smiled. Her daughter had been blessed with some remarkable teammates. She knew they would all keep each other safe.


End file.
